Statins have been declared safe and effective after an exhaustive medical review - with experts warning their potential side-effects have been exaggerated by unreliable studies.

The tablets, which reduce cholesterol and are taken by an estimated six million people every day, have long dominated some newspaper front pages with claims they could be unsafe.

However, medical experts are warning that reliable studies which prove statins can help Britons prevent heart attacks and strokes are being overlooked.

A report published by The Lancet claims an MMR-style public health scare could emerge if the record is not set straight - and hundreds of thousands of people may have stopped taking the inexpensive, life-saving treatment after being exposed to misleading claims.

Image:Professor Rory Collins says the consequences of not taking statins often outweigh the drug's side-effects

Professor Rory Collins of Oxford University, one of the authors, said: "Our review shows that the numbers of people who avoid heart attacks and strokes by taking statin therapy are very much larger than the numbers who have side-effects with it.

"In addition, whereas most of the side-effects can be reversed with no residual effects by stopping the statin, the effects of a heart attack or stroke not being prevented are irreversible and can be devastating."

In the late 1990s, the number of children receiving the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine fell sharply after a publication by Dr Andrew Wakefield linked the jab to autism.

However, his research was widely discredited - and Dr Richard Horton, the editor of The Lancet - says lessons need to be learned to prevent misinformation in future.